this world is not my home – i'm just passing through

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How To Survive A Different Culture (1)

Everyone and everything was packed in the bus. People, music instruments, traditional clothes, and food.
Everyone was ready to perform the Christmas program in a village a few hours away from here.
Everyone, except for me.

I had to get a permit to go there, or a letter of recommendation from the village. I didn’t have the letter, and didn’t want to spend 2000 rupees just to be there for a couple of hours.

So everyone left, and I stayed at the base.”
As soon as the bus was out of sight, I turned around and filled some buckets with water.
I did my laundry.
I ate some rice.
I translated some chapters of a grammar book from Nepali to English.
I did some more laundry.

Most of the day I sat on the roof with my books and dictionaries and notebooks – with the sun in my face, a view of the mountains, and some good Douwe Egberts coffee.

No distractions, no questions, no people.

Though I had wanted to go to the village with everyone else, my day couldn’t have been any better.

I love people, and I love communities like the one I live in right now.
But I also love being able to do whatever I want without having people around me.

Every now and then I need “Ruthie time”. Whether it is drinking a cappuccino in Lakeside, watching a movie by myself or being home alone: I need it to recharge.